By Jimmy Vielkind in Albany and Laura Nahmias in Manhattan, with Daniel Lippman

Nicole Malliotakis, the Republican candidate for mayor, already had a Donald Trump problem — she voted for him last November, and Bill de Blasio has hasn’t missed an opportunity to associate her with the president. But on Sunday, she added more fuel to the fire — siding with Trump in his weekend-long fight with Colin Kaepernick and other professional athletes who refuse to stand during the national anthem, which quickly blossomed into a full-blown standoff with much of the National Football League. Players and owners across the NFL also took a knee during Sunday’s games in expressions of solidarity with Kaepernick; Trump referred to knee-takers as SOBs on Twitter.

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Malliotakis is a conservative, but she’s trying to become mayor in a Democratic town where Trump’s disapproval rating is hovering at around 80 percent, and his presence is about as welcome as another delay on the subway A recent Marist Poll has her trailing de Blasio by more than 45 points. Closing that gap may depend in part on how well Malliotakis is able to avoid ending up on the Trump side of any argument between now and November.

Her statement on Sunday begged the question — what is she actually running for? Her mayoral bid was always a longshot. But her firm stances on some hot-button conservative issues leave her room to run in some other, likelier race — for Staten Island borough president, perhaps, or for Congress.

WHERE’S ANDREW? Speaking to the Business Council of New York State’s annual conference at the Sagamore.

WHERE’S BlLL? Mayor Bill de Blasio is kicking off his Manhattan-based satellite City Hall this week. In the morning he’ll do an interview on the Danny Jones show, then hold a photo spray at the American Negro Theater at the Schomburg Center, before making a parks announcement and holding a press conference in the afternoon.

The Tabloids — Daily News: “KNEE TO THE GROIN: NFL Blitzes Trump with all-out protests”— New York Post: “KNEE THE PEOPLE” — See Them

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Look, to our colleagues in the federal government, I humbly suggest that at this time instead of arguing with football players, instead of obsessing about how to take health care from the poor in this country, why don’t we put the politics aside and focus on helping Americans in desperate need.” — Gov. Andrew Cuomo, on Sunday, at a rally in support of Puerto Rico’s recovery from Hurricane Maria.

QUOTE OF THE DAY, II: "I don't want to sound like a real liberal weenie, but I really believe in medical marijuana." — Mayoral candidate Bo Dietl, to the Staten Island Advance.

— WEINER FACES SENTENCING — Associated Press’s Tom Hays and Steve Peoples: “It seemed as if Anthony Weiner had hit rock bottom when he resigned from Congress in 2011. 'Bye-bye, pervert!' one heckler shouted as the Democrat quit amid revelations that he had sent graphic pictures of himself to women on social media. Time has shown his self-destructive drama had only just begun.

“Weiner, 53, is set to be sentenced Monday for sending obscene material to a 15-year-old girl in a case that may have also have played a role in costing Hillary Clinton — former boss of Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin — the presidential election. Federal prosecutors have asked for a sentence of slightly more than two years behind bars because of the seriousness of the crime, in which Weiner sent adult porn to the girl and got her to take her clothes off for him on Skype.” Read more here.

YOUR TICKET TO THE MEDIA CIRCUS: Michael Calderone, one of the most widely respected media writers in the business, is back at POLITICO and taking the helm of the must-read Morning Media newsletter. Calderone will deliver fresh scoops, behind the scenes tidbits, and analysis of the top media stories straight to your inbox every morning. Get in-the-know by signing up for the free newsletter here: http://www.politico.com/media/tipsheets/morning-media

— HMM -- “Mid-Hudson government jobs can pay well,” by Chris McKenna of the Times Herald-Record: “Middletown’s public works commissioner and police chief, two Ulster County staff psychiatrists and Kiryas Joel’s village administrator each earned more than $200,000 and were the highest-paid local government employees in the [mid-Hudson] region in the 12-month period that ended March 31.” http://bit.ly/2hqfRdM

WHAT ALBANY IS READING:

— AMAZON BIDDING WAR — Buffalo News’s Tom Precious: “The feverish anticipation over Amazon’s search for a new second headquarters that could bring up to 50,000 new jobs has spread across North America, including New York State. That has left the Cuomo administration in a peculiar place: unable to name a favorite candidate. Will it be New York City? Or could it be Buffalo? What about Westchester County or Long Island? Rochester wants to be in the running, and there’s the possibility of a combined bid by Rockland and Orange counties.” Read more here

— CATSIMATIDIS’ DENIAL — State of Politics’ Nick Reisman: “Businessman and prolific political donor John Catsimatidis on Friday defended making a plane available to Cuomo for a trip to visit the storm-ravaged Virgin Islands last week. Catsimatidis, who has contributed to a variety of candidates over the years, including the governor, loaned the plane for the trip after the governor had approved legislation that would benefit a biofuels plant he owns.”

— ”Catsimatidis in the radio interview with Talk 1300’s Fred Dicker said he had not spoken to Cuomo about the bill and that it was his idea to contact ethics regulators at the Joint Commission on Public Ethics to receive approval for the trip. JCOPE approved the trip, which had the stated goal of providing humanitarian support in the wake of a hurricane. ‘The truth? I didn’t even he was signing a bill,’ he said. ‘Fred Dicker, you’ve known me for 20 years. I didn’t even know he was signing it.’ … Fred, you know me for a long time. I’m a straight guy. Have I ever gotten anything from anybody?’ ” Read more here.

— AN AKWESASNE LOOPHOLE ON PATENTS — NCPR’s David Sommerstein: “It's been a few weeks since the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe announced a landmark partnership with drug giant Allergan. Allergan, based in Ireland, makes Botox and other hugely popular medicines. The Mohawks will essentially shield the patent for Allergan’s drug Restasis using the tribe’s sovereign status and get millions of dollars in the process. Some observers have called the innovative plan ‘brilliant.’ But it’s already drawing scorn in Congress. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown said it ‘rips off consumers.’ He vowed to ‘close loopholes that drug companies exploit to avoid competition.’” Read more here.

— OP-ED— ”Women Must Edit N.Y.’s Constitution” — Betsy Gotbaum, for the Daily News: “This year marks the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New York. It is also a year when the question of whether to hold a constitutional convention — altering the state’s most important legal document — will be on the ballot in November. The two are closely connected, as the state Constitution has been drafted overwhelmingly by men.” Read more here.

WHAT CITY HALL IS READING:

— A LOCAL EXPERIMENT PAYS OFF — Governing Magazine’s J.B. Wogan: “Four years ago, New York City officials and a group of social scientists launched an experiment based on a simple question: Would a couple thousand dollars a year in extra tax breaks help low-income, childless adults find work and increase their earnings? Early results suggest the answer is yes, which could boost proposals in Congress and states to expand the tax credit for low-income workers.

— “A three-year pilot project in New York City offered up to $2,000 in annual tax credits to adults who either have no children or aren't the primary caretaker of their children and make no more than $30,000 a year...An interim report from 2016, the second year of the project, found that participants saw their earnings increase by 6 percent and employment by 2.5 percent. Among the participants who were parents, the likelihood of making a child support payment went up 9 percentage points and the average amount they paid each month increased by $54.” Read more here.

— NYPD’S EXPANDING DNA DATABASE — Daily News’s Ann Givens and WNYC’s Robert Lewis: “New York City is building a vast, unregulated DNA database that police are already using to connect suspects to evidence from crime scenes across the five boroughs. In the last five years, the number of DNA profiles in New York's local database has grown dramatically, driven in part by a push to collect DNA in every gun case. As of July, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was storing about 64,000 genetic profiles, The Trace and WNYC have learned.” Read more here.

— HHC’S NEW LEADERSHIP — Wall Street Journal’s Mara Gay: “Mayor Bill de Blasio has chosen a new official to lead New York City’s sprawling, fiscally troubled public hospital system. Mitchell Katz, currently director of the Los Angeles County Health Agency, will lead the system, known as NYC Health + Hospitals,” Read more here

— ”Bill de Blasio is America’s Most Irrelevant Mayor”— National Review’s Kyle Smith: “The one-time progressive star who leads our nation’s largest city is now virtually invisible. How did this happen?” Read more here.

— THE RACE FOR NIGHT MAYOR HEATS UP — Bowery Boogie Staff Report: “a reliable source tells us that Paul Seres, onetime president of the New York Nightlife Association and owner of neighborhood scourge The DL, among others, is gunning for the new “Night Mayor” position. He allegedly submitted his application for consideration, joining the fierce competition...Other rumored contenders jockeying for the position include Gerard McNamee, former director of operations for Webster Hall pre-buyout.” Read more here.

2017:

— JUMAANE'S PROGRESSIVE PROBLEM — POLITICO New York's Gloria Pazmino: Jumaane Williams has a progressive problem. In his second bid to become the Council Speaker, the legislator from Brooklyn is positioning himself as a champion of the left, but Williams’ socially conservative views on marriage equality and abortion — long a source of concern for his liberal colleagues — could now be a millstone in his quest to lead one of the most left-leaning Legislatures in the country. Read more here.

— GREG DAVID’S TAKE, 2017 — Crain’s: “De Blasio also has stumbled on tactics, proved an easy mark for his rivals and been dragged down by a needless war with the media. His popularity has suffered, he has failed to expand his political base, and he has alienated allies in Albany and elsewhere. As a result he has failed in many of his more venturesome plans and has not gotten credit for what he has done….”Read more here.

— DE BLASIO CAMPAIGN TEAM SIGNS ON IN NASSAU EXEC RACE — Daily News’s Ken Lovett: “The Democrat running for Nassau County executive has hired the same team behind Mayor de Blasio’s campaign operation. Laura Curran hired consulting firm BerlinRosen and ad company AKPD Message + Media for her county executive bid against Republican Jack Martins.” Read more here.

TRUMP’S NEW YORK

— BHARARA WEIGHS IN — Daily News’s Graham Rayman and Erin Durkin: “Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said President Trump’s behavior “paints a picture of potential obstruction” — and he believes Trump would have asked him to do something inappropriate if he had stayed on the job.” Read more here

SOCIAL DATA:

— MOVING ON: After five decades in commercial radio, Jon Belmont is retiring from his anchor slot at 1010 WINS. Belmont has anchored weekend mornings at the station for the last four years, and previously spent 20 years with ABC News radio and a decade with the Associated Press. His last day will be in November.

— SPOTTED: John Podhoretz at French Roast on the Upper West Side on Saturday afternoon

— SPOTTED at Global Citizen Festival this weekend in Central Park: Human Rights Campaign’s West Honeycutt and the Vera Institute of Justice’s Kindred Motes, chatting with former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, now leading head of the Global Partnership for Education, and Wei Soo, co-founder and managing director of new markets of Global Citizen. Pic http://bit.ly/2fkeclx

— SPOTTED: Trevor Noah and the writers of “The Daily Show” having a conversation yesterday at the Tribeca TV Festival and talking about how they stay current with just 24 hours to write and execute each episode in this mercurial political climate. Video of theFull convohttp://bit.ly/2fIExKz

— DEPT. OF GOOD DEEDS -- PLAYBOOK INBOX -- Peter Brown, CEO of PR firm BLJ Worldwide, emails in: “Our firm’s President Mike Holtzman saved a suicidal man who had jumped onto the tracks at Penn Station earlier this month. The fast acting PR man -- business partner to former Beatles Manager Peter Brown--signaled the train to stop by waving his iPhone, convinced the man that his suicide attempt was futile, consoled him by using some basic phrases like ‘you are loved’ in the man’s native Hindi language, and hoisted the man back onto the platform into the arms of police and train staff. All in a Zegna suit.”

— WEEKEND WEDDING -- “Jacqueline Titolo, Brian Fink” -- Times: “Ms. Titolo, 31, is the digital strategist for Think Public Relations in Manhattan. She graduated from Fordham. ... Mr. Fink, also 31, is a police officer in the emergency service unit, which is the rescue and tactical team, of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; he works in Manhattan. He graduated from Manhattanville College.… The couple met in 2002, when both were sophomores at St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows, Queens.” With pic http://nyti.ms/2fpg9AK

BUZZFEED TACKLES MORNING TV: The site will launch “AM to DM” at 10 a.m., a daily show that’ll stream on Twitter. Editor-in-chief Ben Smithtells me that “a lot of television now basically consists of people telling you what happened on twitter a couple of hours ago, and sometimes essentially re-enacting twitter fights.”

—“We are thrilled to be doing this on twitter itself, in real time — and to know that we're talking to an audience that is already in on the conversation,” Smith continued. “AM2DM is a show that understands and responds to its audience, rather than talking down to it.”

— “L+M to build hip-hop museum, giant affordable housing complex in South Bronx,” by The Real Deal’s Eddie Small: “L+M Development Partners won the bid to turn a vacant waterfront site in the South Bronx into a massive mixed-use development featuring 1,045 units of housing and the borough’s long-awaited ‘Universal Hip-Hop Museum.’” Read the story here

— “Garment District Landlords Set Their Sights on New Real-Estate Rules,” by Wall Street Journal’s Keiko Morris: “Jobs in Midtown Manhattan’s Garment District have grown in sectors from food services to professional business services over the past year, while office rents have increased and the neighborhood’s rapidly multiplying hotels boast some of the highest occupancy rates in Manhattan, according to a new study. And yet the neighborhood’s economic growth is being held back, according to officials with the Garment District Alliance, the authors of the study. They blame a 30-year-old zoning restriction that preserves space for the apparel manufacturing sector, which continues to decline.” Read the story here

** A message from PhRMA: Are middlemen really holding down the cost of medicines? Ever wonder who decides what you pay for your medicines? It’s not who you might think. Biopharmaceutical companies set the list prices for their medicines, but it’s your insurer that ultimately determines how much you pay out of pocket. More than one-third of the list price of a medicine is rebated back to middlemen, like insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). These rebates and discounts create savings of more than $100 billion, but these savings aren’t always shared directly with patients. Patients share the costs. They should share the savings. http://onphr.ma/2zcTOi3 **